Toronto (November 26, 2019) - Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) condemns in the strongest possible terms an antisemitic student group at York University that recently promoted violence towards Jewish people.

Over the weekend, York's Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) retweeted a video featuring a group of people waving the Palestinian flag while chanting the following words in Arabic:

O Palestine, we are with you till death

With a rock and a knife

Raise the flag of Palestine

With a stone and a knife raise the flag of Palestine

Palestine is free, free

Zionist, get out [of Palestine]

“It is beyond horrific, beyond unacceptable, that a student club at York University is promoting violence towards Israelis,” said FSWC President and CEO Avi Benlolo. “We demand nothing less than immediate action by the university administration to shut this club down and expel those responsible for advocating violence and extreme hatred against Jewish people.”

SAIA was also the main organizer of an antisemitic protest that turned violent last week in its efforts to shut down a campus event organized by Jewish students. The protest was condemned by numerous university, government and law enforcement officials.

FSWC is asking Toronto Police for a full investigation and has reached out to York University President Rhonda Lenton.